


Lean

by Lexiconicy



Category: Nothing Much to Do
Genre: Choices, Communication, F/M, Future Fic, One Shot, adulting together, post LLL, post Travel Year, supportive boyfriend Ben
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-04
Updated: 2016-11-04
Packaged: 2018-08-29 00:45:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8469346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lexiconicy/pseuds/Lexiconicy
Summary: When Beatrice decides to go to university, it brings up some decidedly difficult discussions about what that means and feelings. COMMUNICATION ensues.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AccioInvisibilityCloak](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AccioInvisibilityCloak/gifts).



> Hey, happy birthday to AccioInvisibilityCloak! You mentioned on tumblr that it was your birthday on Nov 4 (I'm pretty sure!) and so I've been planning to write something for you ever since then! You've been a big influence on my participation in this fandom and I can't thank you enough for that. This story (while a little sappier than originally intended) is for you :-)

“You don’t have to look so sad about it, you know?”

Benedick looks up from where he’s been staring, eyes glazed, at a timetable being slowly crushed between his fingers. Beatrice is leaning against the door frame, head resting at an angle, watching him. Ben looks back down at the sheet of paper in his hands and loosens his grip purposefully, carefully. He crosses his eyes and smiles in her direction. “Better?”

Beatrice moves towards him, rolling her eyes, and snatches the paper out of his hands. “As much as I would love it to be, something tells me that ignoring this may not end well for us.”

Ben grins, properly this time before pretending to ponder his answer. “Would that something possibly be…experience?”

Bea pretends to scoff. “I should think not. Don’t you remember that time when we were fourteen and we realised that we liked each other and we all lived happily ever after?”

“How could I have forgotten? What about that time when we were seventeen and we realised after a week that our friends were trying to set us up?”

“Or that time when we were living apart but we knew that being together would make us happier so instead of wasting our time moping around all lonely, we moved together again?”

“Yeah, no. Definitely not experience then.” Ben shakes his head. “We’re much too smart to need that nonsense.”

Bea sits on the floor in front of him, both of them cross-legged and facing each other. She looks into his eyes searchingly. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“About…?”

Bea simply raises her eyebrows and the timetable, now crumpled along its edges.

“I don’t know. It feels…weird.”

“Weird how?”

Ben sighs and his shoulders deflate. “I feel like I’ve failed all over again. You’re going off to be successful and I’m still a university drop-out”.

Beatrice scoots to lean against his side instead, putting her arm around him. “Yeah, you’re a university drop-out with a stable job and a flat he shares with his stable girlfriend and more real-world experiences than 90% of his classmates will ever have, gained from a year of travel all around the world on a shoestring budget.” She punches his leg gently. “Besides, I'm definitely not going to be successful for at least another three years. Right now all I have is a class schedule for a bachelor of science degree and a boyfriend who’s the only force in my life keeping me afloat”

Ben leans into her as well. “I’m totally glad that you’re reaching your dreams and you know how happy I am for you, but to actually get here and see my girlfriend go off to university to achieve what I never could? I’m not going to lie to you, Bea. It’s a bit of a sucker punch to the self-esteem.”

Bea sighs. “Yeah…it sucks.”

They sit in silence for a moment, Ben with his eyes squeezed shut and Bea just holding him, until breaks the moment by jovially putting his arm around her as well. “Also the pressure of being the sole breadwinner for this flat is driving me crazy. Whoever would have guessed? Me, Benedick Hobbes, the alpha male of the family?”

Bea snorts. “Yeah, keep dreaming buddy.” She stops to consider for a moment. “Though, to be fair, you’re basically the heart of this whole operation. I know that I genuinely wouldn’t be able to do this without you behind me the whole way. And even though it sucks, you’re there anyway.”

Ben shoots her some finger guns. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else anyway.”

Bea looks at him curiously. “Not even university?”

Ben pauses, before taking a breath. “Not right now. Maybe in the future I’ll go back. Heaven knows that there’s more Christopher Marlowe to be analysed and stories to written.”

He smiles.

“But for now, I think I’ve got a pretty damn good deal. Internet deal that is, of course. I have a job which means that I can afford to pay my own internet bills, how crazy is that?”

“Don’t forget you get to pay for mine too!”

“Like, I said earlier, as the sole income earner of this household, I’m the true man of the family now.” He puts his hands on his hips proudly.

Beatrice once again rolls her eyes. “Yes, the super masculine man who also does all the cooking as well.”

“Well if you had my skill for the culinary arts on a budget, you’d put it to use as well. Besides, I’ve never heard any complaints from you before.”

“No complaints here at all. We have complementary skills: you’re good at cooking and I’m good at eating – a perfect match!” She laughs and flops herself down into his lap, looking up at him. “No, but really, thanks so much, Ben. After everything that’s happened, I can always trust myself to rely on you, even when I know it hurts”

Ben smiles down at her. “Bea, it is my absolute, genuine pleasure.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm applying for university at the moment so this story was inspired by my hours of research that I've done over the past few days. It's worrying me a little bit, so I've channeled that into this story a little bit. Thanks for reading!


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